Cosmetic Container

ABSTRACT

Provided is a cosmetic container that prevents caking and permits a container body to be easily filled with a cosmetic powder. The cosmetic container may include a container body that has an opening at an upper side thereof and is capable of storing cosmetic in powder or other such suitable form, an applicator that includes a cap removably attached to the opening of the container body, a base shaft extending from the cap to the container body, and a wand body which is mounted to a tip of the base shaft, wherein a cylindrical joint that has a surface which is an extension in an upward direction of a surface of the container body is provided at the opening of the container body, the cap is removably attached to an upper opening of the joint, and the wand body is disposed higher than an upper surface of the cosmetic powder.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION, BENEFIT CLAIM, AND INCORPORATIONBY REFERENCE

This application claims benefit of priority under 35 USC 119(a)-(d) toJapanese Patent Application No. 2017-106355, entitled “CosmeticContainer”, filed 30 May 2017, the content of which is herebyincorporated herein in its entirety by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a cosmetic container capable of storinga cosmetic powder such as eye shadow.

BACKGROUND

In accordance with one embodiment of a cosmetic container for storing acosmetic, e.g., a cosmetic in powder form such as eye shadow or thelike, the cosmetic container might comprise a bottomed cylindricalcontainer body and an applicator attached to the container body. Unlikethe compact type of cosmetic container that stores pressed powder, sucha cosmetic container can store loose powder which has the advantage ofbeing light-to-the-touch during use, but there is the disadvantage thatthe cosmetic powder in such case may be prone to scattering.

To prevent this, a constitution might for example be adopted in which anoutlet of the container body is closed by a wand body in such fashionthat the applicator serves as a plug, as a result of which the cosmeticpowder may be prevented from scattering. In such case, the wand bodymight be disposed in such fashion as to be just above the bottom of thecontainer body when the applicator is attached to the container body,which will be advantageous in that the long brush shaft may makeapplication easier and it may be possible for the cosmetic powder to beused right up to the point at which it is completely depleted.

However, where a cosmetic powder and the applicator are always incontact with each other, there may be concerns about adsorption ofcosmetic moisture to the applicator and caking (solidification) of thecosmetic powder due to pressure applied to the cosmetic powder by theapplicator. There may also be problems in situations where the cosmeticpowder must be filled from a filling hole provided in the bottom surfaceof the container body, in which case the process of closing the holefollowing filling might be troublesome.

There is therefore a need for a cosmetic container that prevents cakingand makes it possible for a container body to be easily filled with acosmetic powder.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to a cosmetic container capable of storinga cosmetic powder such as eye shadow.

To address one or more of the needs described above, one embodiment ofthe present invention is a cosmetic container that may include acontainer body, a cylindrical joint, and an applicator.

The container body may have an opening at an upper side thereof and maybe capable of storing a cosmetic powder.

The applicator may include a cap removably attached to the opening ofthe container body. The applicator may further include a base shaftextending from the cap to the container body. The applicator may furtherinclude a wand body which is attached to a tip of the base shaft and towhich cosmetic powder may be made to adhere.

In some embodiments, the cylindrical joint may be removably attached tothe opening of the container body. In some embodiments, the cap may beremovably attached to an upper opening of the joint. In someembodiments, the cylindrical joint may have a surface which is anextension in an upward direction of a surface of the container body.

In some embodiments, the wand body may be disposed higher than, and maybe prevented from coming in contact with, an upper surface of thecosmetic powder.

In some embodiments, a maximum outer diameter portion of the wand bodymay engage with a minimum inner diameter position of the joint.

In some embodiments, a part of the joint may enter the container body.

In some embodiments, the joint may have an inner surface which tapers soas to be wider above than below.

In some embodiments, a maximum outer diameter of the wand body may beslightly larger than a minimum inner diameter of the joint.

In some embodiments, the wand body may be in the shape of a bullet, thetip of which has been partially truncated in oblique fashion.

Although the present invention is preferably applied for use with eyeshadow or other such cosmetic in powder form, the present invention isnot limited thereto, it also being possible to apply the presentinvention for use with eye shadow or other such cosmetic in liquid,semi-solid, cake, cream, and/or other form.

BENEFIT OF INVENTION

The present invention makes it possible to provide a cosmetic containerthat prevents caking and permits a container body to be easily filledwith a cosmetic powder.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Many aspects of the invention can be better understood with reference tothe following drawings. The components in the drawings are notnecessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearlyillustrating the principles of the present invention. Moreover, in thedrawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding partsthroughout the several views.

FIG. 1 shows a cosmetic container 1 according to a first embodiment ofthe present invention, (a) being a front view thereof, and (b) being afront longitudinal sectional view thereof.

FIG. 2 is a front longitudinal sectional view showing an explodeddiagram of cosmetic powder container 1 in accordance with the firstembodiment.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a wand body 8 according to the firstembodiment.

FIG. 4 shows variations on joint 40.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of a cosmetic container according tothe present invention is described with reference to the drawings.

First Embodiment

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, a cosmetic container 1 includes acontainer body 30 that stores a cosmetic powder 70 such as eye shadow, ajoint 40 that is screwed to the container body 30 so as to be joined inintegral fashion therewith, and an applicator body 2 that is removablyattached to the joint 40.

With continued reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, container body 30 is abottomed cylinder having an upper end portion of reduced diameter, anopening 34 being formed at an upper end of this reduced-diameter portion32. On an outer circumferential surface of the reduced-diameter portion32, a male screw 36 is provided. While there is no particular limitationwith respect to the material of the container body 30, a transparent orsemitransparent material such as plastic or glass is preferably usedsince it may enable the color, remaining amount, state, etc., of thecosmetic 70 stored therein to be viewed.

The applicator body 2 includes a cap 4, a base shaft 6 extending fromthe cap 4 to the container body 30, and a wand body 8 provided at a tipof the base shaft 6. On an inner surface of a lower portion of the cap4, a plurality of projections 14 utilized during attachment to the joint40 are provided in a circumferential direction. By causing theseprojections 14 to ride over a convex portion 46 which projects inannular fashion from an outer circumferential surface of cylindricalbody 42 of joint 40, the applicator body 2 may be attached to ordetached from the joint 40. Base shaft 6 is of hollow cylindrical shape,and cap 4 is joined in integral fashion to large-diameter base endportion 10 of base shaft 6. Engagement portion 16 of wand body 8 engageswith and is secured to tip hole 12 constituting an opening at the tipthereof.

Although it was described above that base shaft 6 in the present exampleis of hollow cylindrical shape, there is no objection to employment of acolumnar base shaft 6 having no hollow portion.

The joint 40 has a cylindrical body 42 that is open at the top, a bottomsurface 50 provided with a central hole 52, and an inner surface whichtapers so as to be wider above than below. On an outer circumference ofthe cylindrical body 42, a cylindrical cover portion 44 larger indiameter than the cylindrical body 42 is provided. On an innercircumferential surface of a lower portion of the cover portion 44, afemale screw 48 is provided that can be screwed to the male screw 36 ofthe container body 30. When the female screw 48 of the joint 40 and themale screw 36 of the container body 30 are screwed to each other, thecylindrical body 42 enters the opening 34 of the container body 30, andthe hole 52 serves as an inlet/outlet for cosmetic 70.

The inner surface of the cylindrical body 42 is larger in diameter thanthe base shaft 6, such that when cap 4 is attached to upper opening 56of joint 40, base shaft 6 enters cylindrical body 42, and wand body 8engages with hole 52.

With additional reference now to FIG. 3, body portion 18 of wand body 8is capable of closing hole 52 without a gap, such that wand body 8serves as a plug of hole 52 to prevent cosmetic 70 from scattering. Inthis state, tip portion 24 of wand body 8 is disposed so as to be higherthan an upper surface of the cosmetic 70 with which the container isfilled.

With continued reference to FIG. 3, wand body 8 is in the shape of abullet, the tip of which has been partially truncated in obliquefashion. Employment of such shape makes it possible, when applyingcosmetic 70 to an eyelid or the like, to carry out different types ofapplication with a single wand body 8; for example, cosmetic might firstbe applied to the entire eyelid using curved portion 20 of large area,cosmetic might then be applied to a location desired to be emphasizedusing truncated planar portion 22, and cosmetic might be applied to anarrow region using pointed tip portion 24.

Engagement portion 16 is reduced in diameter so as to be capable ofengaging with and being secured to tip hole 12. The untruncated bodyportion 18 has a circular cross section, and a maximum outer diameterthereof is slightly larger than the diameter of the hole 52 of the joint40. The length of base shaft 6 is chosen so as to cause body portion 18to be located at a position where it will engage with hole 52 when thecap 4 is attached thereto.

The wand body 8 is not limited to this shape, and may have any shapesuch as a bullet shape, a spherical shape, a truncated cone shape, acolumnar shape, etc., as long as it can be secured to tip hole 12 andmade to engage with hole 52 of joint 40. The material of the wand body 8is preferably a soft material such as nitrile butadiene rubber,urethane, silicone, and/or the like, but it is also possible to usesponge-like substance(s) and/or other such material(s) obtained byfoaming any of the foregoing, continuously porous material(s),brush-like material(s), and/or the like.

Operation and Effect

In a state where the applicator body 2, the joint 40, and the containerbody 30 are threadedly engaged or otherwise attached to each other, thewand body 8 may serve as plug to prevent cosmetic 70 from moving in andmoving out, so that the cosmetic 70 does not scatter.

Furthermore, in some embodiments, it is also possible to achieve asituation which is such that the wand body 8 does not come in contactwith cosmetic 70 even when cap 4 is attached, making it possible toprevent the wand body 8 from absorbing moisture or the like fromcosmetic 79, and/or making it possible to prevent pressure from beingapplied to/from wand body 8, and this making it possible to preventcaking (solidifying) of cosmetic 70. This may make it possible toprevent deterioration in the feel of the wand body 8 on the skin, andmay make it possible to maintain over a long period of time the abilityto cause a smooth feeling to be experienced during application ofcosmetic powder 70.

To apply cosmetic 70 to the skin or the like, cosmetic container 1 canbe repeatedly shaken in such fashion that it is turned upside-down so asto cause cosmetic 70 to adhere to wand body 8. When applicator body 2 isthereafter pulled out therefrom, this will make it possible for it to beused as is for quick application, as a result of which the time requiredfor applying makeup can be reduced. And if, e.g., after this is used upand it is desired that more cosmetic 70 be made to adhere thereto,applicator body 2 may be returned to its original configuration and thecosmetic container may be shaken again several times, as a result ofwhich cosmetic 70 will again be made to adhere to wand body 8. At suchtime, since hole 52 is closed by wand body 8, cosmetic 70 does notscatter and does not contaminate the surroundings despite the factcosmetic container 1 is turned upside-down or the like.

Because cylindrical body 42 tapers so as to be wider above than below,it is possible for applicator body 2 to be easily attached thereto anddetached therefrom. And when the cap 4 is removed therefrom, cosmetic 70adhering to the inner surface of cylindrical body 42 naturally returnsthrough hole 52 into container body 30, preventing cosmetic 70 fromadhering to base shaft 6 and contaminating the hands or thesurroundings.

Applicator body 2 is such that cap 4 serves as a grip, so that theapplicator body can be securely grasped not only with the thumb and theindex finger but also with the middle finger. In addition, the baseshaft 6 is lengthened by an amount corresponding to the length of joint40, as a result of which a shape enabling easy application is provided.

Where a long and narrow container is filled with cosmetic 70, to preventscattering of cosmetic 70, it is sometimes the case that a long nozzlemay be used or that a filling port is provided at the bottom surface, inwhich case there may be risk of clogging, and/or it may be necessary tocarry out a procedure to close the filling port, which may betroublesome or inconvenient. In contradistinction hereto, cosmeticcontainer 1 in some embodiments of the present embodiment is such thatjoint 40 and container body 30 are capable of being separated from eachother, permitting joint 40 to be attached after cylindrical containerbody 30 is filled with cosmetic 70, as a result of which the containercan be easily filled with cosmetic 70 without scattering. And because itis possible in such embodiments for the joint 40 to be removed, thecontainer can be easily refilled with cosmetic 70.

Variations

While the present invention has been described above in terms ofspecific embodiments, the present invention is not limited thereto, itbeing possible to carry out various modifications and variations.

For example, whereas it was described above that the joint 40 is suchthat the cylindrical body 42 has a bottom surface 50, it is alsopossible as indicated at the variation on joint 40 shown at (a) in FIG.4 for the cylindrical body 42 a to have a cylindrical shape that is openat the bottom and that tapers so as to be wider above than below.

As another example, as indicated at (b) in FIG. 4, another structure isalso possible in which a cover portion 44 b is provided at a lower sideof the cylindrical body 42 b, the cylindrical body 42 b having a shapethat is tapered in such fashion as to be wider above than below, and thejoint 40 being of such shape as to permit it to be attached to thecontainer 30 in such fashion that it can come in contact with theopening 34.

In accordance with another example, as indicated at (c) in FIG. 4, it ispossible to employ a configuration such as that indicated at cylindricalbody 42 c which has cylindrical shape with constant inner diameter.

At cylindrical bodies 42 a, 42 b, and 42 c shown at (a), (b), and (c) inFIG. 4, maximum outer diameter of body portion 18 of wand body 8 isslightly larger than minimum inner diameter of the cylindrical body 42a, 42 b, 43 c.

EXPLANATION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

-   1 Cosmetic container-   2 Applicator body-   4 Cap-   6 Base shaft-   8 Wand body-   10 Base end portion-   12 Tip hole-   14 Projection-   16 Engagement portion-   18 Body portion-   20 Curved portion-   22 Truncated planar portion-   24 Tip portion-   30 Container body-   32 Reduced-diameter portion-   34 Opening-   36 Male screw-   40 Joint-   42, 42 a, 42 b, 43 c Cylindrical body-   44, 44 b Cover portion-   46 Convex portion-   48 Female screw-   50 Bottom surface-   52 Hole (in bottom surface 50)-   56 Upper opening-   70 Cosmetic

What is claimed is:
 1. A cosmetic container comprising: a container bodythat has an opening at an upper side thereof and is capable of storing acosmetic powder; a cylindrical joint that is removably attached to theopening of the container body and that has a surface which is anextension in an upward direction of a surface of the container body; anapplicator that includes a cap removably attached to an upper opening ofthe joint, a base shaft extending from the cap to the container body,and a wand body which is mounted to a tip of the base shaft and to whichcosmetic powder is made to adhere; wherein the wand body is disposedhigher than and does not come in contact with an upper surface of thecosmetic powder.
 2. The cosmetic container according to claim 1 whereina maximum outer diameter portion of the wand body engages with a minimuminner diameter position of the joint.
 3. The cosmetic containeraccording to claim 1 wherein a maximum outer diameter of the wand bodyis slightly larger than a minimum inner diameter of the joint.
 4. Thecosmetic container according to claim 1 wherein a part of the jointenters the container body.
 5. The cosmetic container according to claim1 wherein the joint has an inner surface which tapers so as to be widerabove than below.
 6. The cosmetic container according to claim 1 whereinthe wand body is in a shape of a bullet, a tip of which has beenpartially truncated in oblique fashion.